I first heard the first movement (‘Good Morning’) from Pearls III by Roland Szentpáli, when I was driving and listening to BBC Radio 3 on an early Saturday morning. As our daylight hours have been shortened and the days grow dark, I have found it often very difficult to drag myself out of bed in the morning (I’m sure many of you can relate!). ‘Good Morning’ is a short, but fun and light-hearted, piece that is expertly written for tuba and piano. A brass player himself, Roland began initially playing the euphonium at the age of twelve and moved onto the tuba in the following year. Roland is a Hungarian composer and has won numerous prizes internationally. He is an eccentric; his pieces reflect this and emanate a kind of controlled mania, but prevailing joyfulness, nevertheless. ‘Since You Left’ is a great juxtaposition from the first movement, evoking romance and serenity. Though most people wouldn’t naturally associate the tuba with these emotions, Roland does an excellent job to make the tuba’s timbre sound like a delicate and sombre human voice. ‘Serenade’, the third movement of Pearl III, is more mellow and laid-back, but Roland does not fail to bring out the virtuosity of the player through humorous moments and quirky phrases, which close this final chapter in the tryptic.

Maki Gajic Murata, Composer in Residence 

Photo by SSG Chris Branagan